Sad to see Akane lost in early stage in All-England 2014. She should follow her team mates' footstep by playing in lower leagues to gain more experiences.
http://www.bwfbadminton.org/news_item.aspx?id=84254 congrats to her for getting the promising player of the year award!
Entering China Open Final at 17 is amazing and being rather short makes it even more amazing. I have a strange feeling that this AY being Japanese, will mature and be a discipline and consistent player and most probably will be one of the greatest WS player ever! I sincerely hope that her coaches and medical team will take good care of her and avoid the bane of shorter players playing the game - horrific back pain and injuries. Good Luck AY.
I think she is a great player. She has a different style and I hope to see her turn into a player that will consistently trouble the best. She also seems humble and happy to be competing no matter if she wins or loses. I can't stand the grumpy, sulking, floppy hand shaking WS players at the moment like Marin and SN.
IMHO I think she's more athletic than Mia Audina. I really like Akane's style; the truly is a 'pocket rocket'.
I'm not so sure, Audina was very agile too. Yamaguchi is probably quicker but not sure if she has more stamina. One thing Audina had was deception. If Yamaguchi added the same level of deception to her game and upped her stamina she would be awesome.
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-amp-R-32-(14th-amp-15th-January-2014)/page12 I am right, Akane is top 20 by end of 2014 but not top 10 !
just finished watching SSF dubai day2 yamyam vs ratchinok, so kawaii. looking forward to tomorrow against TTY
I only skimmed through the replay, but WOW, some of those rallies were brutally physical. Sometimes Akane would be pushed to all four corners, yet still make quality shots and win rallies. Absolutely impressed.
Just unlucky meeting a well-prepared Ratchanok. Look like there are 2 versions of Ratchanok. One is fast and sharp (like this one in England). One is slow, careless and not focus like the one in Dubai last December.
i like Akane the way she plays, approaches the game. very consistent, calm. Her fundamentals are very good. If she continues to work hard and self-motivates, the sky's the limit for her.
I have a difficult time believing that Michelle Li could beat Akane Yamaguchi. I don't think it's going to happen.
I didn't care who won, you missed what I was saying. I jus don't like seeing my two fav players playing it out.lol. And Akane has lost to lower ranked players and she needed three to win over Michelle .. Musta been a good match
With what she has accomplished, we know that AY is a good player. The big question is how much upside is really there. She is still very young and very early in her career. It is unrealistic to judge her as a top tier player at this point. A lot remains to be seen.